Why Is Strong Marketing Strategy So Rare?

I think we can all agree that marketing theory is reasonably well established? I also think we can agree that the evidence that having strong marketing strategy and implementing it makes it more likely for firms to be successful than those that don’t have it? However it seems that finding examples of strong marketing strategy or organisations or individuals who are strong at the developing great marketing plans can be quite hard. So why is strong marketing strategy so rare?

There are many reasons for this but here are some to get you thinking about your situation and what might apply to you and your business. The term marketing strategy is often misunderstood. It may be peoples assumption that it is about communication campaigns through leaflets, brochures or advertising. While this may ultimately form a small part of a marketing plan its more about execution of the plan and it does not do it justice.

Strategy development is inherently difficult, particularly when it comes to developing market insights and making tough strategic choices. If it were easy we would all be doing it and it would become a level playing field and be hard to compete. Do you or your team have the right skills or knowledge and understand the best process to use? After all, the translation of academic theory into practice in business its not straightforward. There are multiple aspects to marketing, tools and approaches and it can be difficult to know where to start, which tools to use, in which order and how they fit together to deliver a winning marketing strategy.

Organisational structure or culture can be the rate limiting factor to developing great strategy, due for example to bureaucracy or lack of belief in the value of the exercise. I would also suggest that the teaching of marketing strategy varies significantly in terms of actionable process to be applied in the real world. My own learning has partly come from extensive reading around the subject but mostly from 20 years of being in marketing jobs around the world and navigating all the confusion to settle upon practical and memorable process to help me and others derive winning strategies. It seems I have an innate ability to think strategically and have become known for taking complexity through to simplicity.

In the sprit of simplicity marketing strategy is really about which customers to target and what to offer them? Its about how to allocate limited resources towards the right opportunities for growth and the right issues to manage that may negatively impact your success to ensure you deliver double digit growth and drive shareholder value. We have developed the INSPIRE strategy cycleTM to cut through all the confusion and complexity to ensure you can confidently define your winning marketing strategy to separate you from the crowd, to “cut the wheat from the chaff” and drive double digit growth.